Starting our Alsatian food extravaganza was an ‘Asparagus, Orange and Crab Salad’ with ‘Dill Dressing’.
The salad began with a ‘five-petalled’ flower of spinach, topped with a loose bundle of arugula. And it carried on from there, an amazing mix of lightly steamed asparagus, crab meat, orange segments, cherry tomatoes, apple slices and fat raisins.
more ingredients waiting to be added to the Crab Salad
A dill dressing was drizzled on top, and then the salad was plated with each plate receiving a Puff Pastry Twist on the side. 
These Puff Pastry Twists (super delicious) started with a sheet of puff pastry, that was brushed with an egg wash and spread with a herb/parmesan cheese mix.
making the puff pastry twists
Cut lengthwise into strips, twisted and brushed with more egg wash and sesame seeds, this dish was ‘easy’ according to its maker, and definitely worth trotting out at a dinner party.
the Crab & Asparagus Salad is served with a Puff Pastry Twist and Brut Rosé wine
The wine chosen to go with the salad was a Crémant d’Alsace, a sparkling ‘Brut Rosé’. Its ‘clean’ taste, citrus notes and fine bubbles that exploded in the mouth making it perfect for the salad.
Lucien Albrecht ‘Crémant d’Alsace’ Brut Rosé
Chef Eric noted that it also went well with anything that had a smoky flavour such as bacon. Hence this sparkling rosé also went with the Alsatian Onion & Bacon Tart, a tasty quiche-like tart, that, together with the salad, would have been a meal in itself.
Here Chef Eric demonstrates how to remove the tart from the tart pan – excuse the blur, it all happened very fast!
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| holding the tart pan with a hot cloth, place a plate on top and invert… | another plate is placed on top of the upside-down tart… | the plate is inverted once again… Et voilá! |
the wonderful quiche-like Onion & Bacon Tart, along with the salad and wine could easily have been a meal in itself!